Azure VM – You can now replace virtual disk during the restore process

Previously when you had to restore an Azure Virtual Machine you had to fully restore the VM by creating a new VM.

Now you can restore the VM by replacing it by overwriting the existing/being restored one.

Off course to be able to do this you need to have a recovery vault in place and have the VM being backed up at least once

If you need to restore a VM using this new method, access your Azure portal and reach out the virtual machine you need to restore to access the Operations\Backup configuration blade and then choose Restore VM

From there you first select the recovery point to use for the recovery process

And finally at the Step 2 Restore configuration step you need to select the Replace existing option and define a staging location which will be used to temporarily save the current VM while the restoration process occurs.

NOTE 1 this snapshot is copied and maintained in the recovery vault for the retention period defined by the retention policy

NOTE 2 this ‘Replace existing’ recovery option is currently only available for unencrypted managed VM’s. This is not available for generalized or custom image based VM’s.